Drought Watch

Rob's Drought Watch Table

I sometimes tell folks that it unfortunately takes some flooding events to eventually break a drought.

We're starting to see that scenario underway around the Bay Area as our El Nino-charged Winter rainfall season is really starting to kick in.

While the rainfall totals may seem excessive (and truthfully they were with that week in January that dropped a month's amount of rain in just five day's time), the Bay Area is finally seeing an average to slightly above average rainfall season so far with long-range models indicating more periods of heavy rains should continue through February.

So long story short -- its *supposed* to be this wet, and this rainy.

However, our incoming storms through February will be packing unusually high amounts of rainfall due to the subtropical nature of some of the incoming moisture - meaning our threat for flooding will stay fairly high through February.

To keep tabs on the latest on the drought (and whether we're getting closer to putting an end to it) check out these sites:

California Department of Water Resources provides an updated website containing information on the Sierra snowpack surveys, Northern and Southern Sierra rainfall information as well as precip data for other sections around the state:

You can access that link here:  DWR Drought Page

Latest Drought Conditions

Here are some links on our Bay Area reservoirs:

South Bay / Santa Clara Valley

Santa Clara Valley Water District & Reservoir Data

East Bay

East Bay - Los Vaqueros Reservoir Data

North Bay

North Bay Water Supply

For local/regional rainfall information our local National Weather Service office based in Monterey offers a daily summary of rainfall with percentage of average along with the previous year's rainfall data.

You can find more on local rain totals vs. seasonal averages here:  NWS Monterey Climate Summary

www.weather.gov/climate/index.php    -->  Click on the Bay Area on the national map and select "Regional Summary" (RTP)

As our Pacific storms keep dumping rain and snow over Bay Area and Northern California, you can also do your part to help out in the drought.  Reduce time spent in the shower, cut back on watering the lawn (with our on/off rainfall you don't really need to water it at all), and sweep dust/debris instead of powerwashing.  Every little bit helps!

- Rob Mayeda (staring at the Pacific Ocean and thinks... "desalination plants anyone?")

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